tremble and obey

Verb

tremble and obey (third-person singular simple present trembles and obeys, present participle trembling and obeying, simple past and past participle trembled and obeyed)

1. (China, idiomatic) To unthinkingly obey or pander to authorities, especially the Chinese government.
   • The ordinary voter ... feels himself their humble subject, whose duty is, as the Chinese used to say, to “tremble and obey”.1949, Bertrand Russell, Authority and the Individual
   • Never “tremble and obey” if doing so will damage or destroy your business in China.2005, James McGregor, One Billion Customers: Lessons from the Front Lines of Doing Business in China, page 153
2. (China, historical) Phrase promulgating a decree of the Chinese imperial government or the early British colonial administration in Hong Kong.
   • Let the good tremble and obey; let them not act so as to have hereafter to repent. A special Proclamation.1857, Thomas Wade, “Translation of a Paper forwarded by His Excellency the Governor of Macao”, in J. C. Parkinson, editor, Government Examinations, page 124